Kisho Watanabe

VIOLIN

BIO:

HOMETOWN:

Yokohama, Japan

CLASS:

Jonathan Edwards ‘11

MAJOR:

Neurobiology

MEMBER SINCE:

Spring ‘09

PERFORMANCES:

Motion Sic

Sic Industries

Sic City

SIC InC Begins

Sic Futuristic

Kisho Watanabe, 22, started the violin at the age of 2 in Japan before moving to the U.S. After studying with Hisako Resnick and Louise Behrend at the School for Strings in New York City for several years, Kisho was accepted into The Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School where he studied with Ann Setzer for four years. Currently, Kisho is a junior majoring in Biology at Yale University and studies with Syoko Aki.

Kisho has won the State and Regional Divisions of the Music Teachers National Association Competition, The CSMTA Music competition, Greenwich Symphony Young Artists Competition, Stamford Symphony Instrumental Scholarship Competition, and The Carlson-Horn/Greater Bridgeport Symphony Competition for Young Instrumentalists. In the spring of 2007, Kisho premiered Darin Lewis’ Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra. In the spring of 2008, he won the William Waite Concerto Competition at Yale University, which gave him the opportunity to perform the Shostakovich Violin Concerto with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2008.

In the summer of 2006, Kisho attended the International Music Academy of Pilsen, Czech Republic and studied with Pravel Prantl and Vaclav Snitil. That summer he performed in masterclasses held by Miroslav Vilimec and Ivan Straus.

Kisho has performed with numerous groups at Juilliard as well as at the Meadowmount School of Music. He has received chamber music instruction from Aaron Berofsky, Constance Moore, Pavel Prantl, Ann Setzer, Vaclav Snitil, and many others. Kisho has also attended the Greenwood Music Camp and the Weathersfield Music Festival.

Kisho has performed in venues such as Paul and Morse halls of the Juilliard School, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie. He has also toured Spain and France as the concertmaster of the Horace Mann Orchestra.